School Visits

The Writers Circle Can Come to You!

In-School Workshops

The Writers Circle’s In-School Workshops inspire students to experience the joy of creative writing. We encourage them to tap into their creativity and get excited about their imaginative ideas, then get those ideas down on paper. Our techniques and curricula are designed to surprise and invite the unexpected. Our approach intentionally shifts the focus from structural writing to imaginative creations that can be explored, crafted, and polished.

At The Writers Circle, we hand-pick our instructors for their professional experience as published authors and their compassion for the creative process. As authors, our approach focuses on students’ ideas and imaginations, and sets aside (at least temporarily) technical concerns such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Although these technicalities are essential to a good finished product, we have discovered that students embrace writing more enthusiastically when asked to “play with words.”

What We Offer Students

We will work with your students to fire their imaginations, tailoring our curricula to the appropriate grade level. Do instruct them to wear comfortable clothes that day, as we encourage everyone to sit on the floor, just as we do in our own classes! We draw on sensory experience and unconventional prompts to guide students to explore outside the box. We’ll help students face the risky, vulnerable experience of writing and show them how to accept and share feedback, so that they can shape instructor and peer input to make their creations the best they can be.

All programs require a minimum of six participants. Contact us to find out more.

The Writers Circle Professional Development

The Writers Circle’s Unique Approach

The Writers Circle’s Professional Development programs help teachers discover ways to inspire their students to tap into their creativity and find joy and excitement in writing. Our techniques and curricula are designed to surprise and invite the unexpected. Our approach intentionally shifts the focus from structural writing to imaginative creations that can be explored, crafted, and polished.

At The Writers Circle, we hand-picked our instructors for their professional experience as published authors and their compassion for the creative process. As authors, our approach focuses on students’ ideas and imaginations, and sets aside (at least temporarily) technical concerns such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Although these technicalities are essential to a good finished product, we have discovered that students embrace writing more enthusiastically when asked to “play with words.”

What We Offer Teachers

We will work with your teachers to model our approach, tailoring our curricula to the grades they teach. Make sure to wear comfortable clothes that day, as we encourage everyone to sit on the floor, just as we do in our classes! We draw on sensory experience and unconventional prompts to guide teachers and students to explore outside the box. As we do in our own workshops, we’ll inspire your teachers to renewed energy, ideas, and creative approaches to writing. We’ll help them understand the risky, vulnerable experience of writing and show them how to make writers comfortable receiving and sharing feedback.

Fees

2-hour session: $500/per TWC instructor

4-hour session: $1,000/per TWC instructor

Full-day session (6 hours): $1,250/per TWC instructor

20 participant maximum per TWC instructor

Teachers should be grouped in the following grade groupings:

K-2

3-5

6-8

9-12

Take-Aways

TWC Curricula

Based on the grade level and the genre of writing selected, we will share a selection of TWC’s curricula with prompts guaranteed to inspire your students to new levels of creativity.

For an additional fee, we will supply teachers with The Writers Circle’s Plotfoolery Writing Adventure and a selection of Story Magic Creativity Decks to help students develop characters and place them in unique and challenging situations. These original teaching aids are the perfect add-on to a professional development session and work well in classrooms from kindergarten to adults.

What Teachers Are Saying

"We want to thank you for a fabulous presentation. It was great to see the students thinking, writing, and creating. We are going to encourage them to finish their story and present them for possible publication in our upcoming future literary magazine."

"The students were enthralled for the entire two hours! They learned more about themselves, how others see them, and how to develop characters, conflict, choices, and consequences within writing."

"Even when they were told they could cease writing, we couldn't get them to stop. Every student had a breakthrough experience; their enthusiasm is not diminishing!"

"We liked the idea of using poems as springboards for writing, allowing for writing freedom from the students, poem selection was great, variety of writing 'challenges' allowed for each child to succeed at something."

"The students are begging to write more and to share their writings. Even our most reluctant writers are no longer hesitant!"

"Our presenter was easy to work with, and willing to adjust as needed throughout both workshop days. Everyone whom I had contact with at TWC was helpful and easy to work with. We are excited about the variety of writing option trainers for our students' future development."

"I support and coordinate many extra curricular and enrichment activities. I have seen many in my lifetime of teaching, ten years in the home schooling arena and nine years in the private sector. This is one of the most professionally presented and exceptional programs I have ever seen."

"The excitement over the Character Cards was uncontrollable. As a teacher, I appreciated their professional presentation and unique design."